Trigger warning: Discussion of child sexual abuse.

Jonny Pelham has become one of the most disarmingly hilarious comics in the UK by building his punchlines on a bedrock of unflinching honesty. There’s a big difference between the comedy cliche of “saying the unsayable”, and being able to find the humanity and authenticity in a subject that people don’t want to talk about. 

We talk about his new Edinburgh Fringe show “Optimism Over Despair”, and he leads us through the experience at that show’s core: his reflections over using his set on Live At The Apollo to discuss the sexual abuse he experienced as a child. We also learn about his clinical “maladaptive daydreaming”, and what it’s like to always come with a trigger warning.

20mins of *double trigger-warning* extras available exclusively to the Insiders Club include Jonny on a joke that he’s always found too dark to make work, but which says something very important about his experiences; how he makes the personal political; and how to make biographical work what you want it to be in the face of algorithmic soup!

Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for ad-free episodes, extra content from every show that has it, and much more - including exclusive Insiders Q&As plus the incredible “self-help for comedians” special with Amanda Donnet.

Catch up with Jonny:

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/jonny-pelham-optimism-over-despair

www.jonnypelham.com

TW/IG: @jonny_pelham

Everything Stu's up to:

Stu’s new Edfringe show “Spoilers” (WINNER Best Show 2023, Leicester Comedy Festival, woo!) is ON SALE NOW at

www.stuartgoldsmith.com/tickets

And find preview dates as well as podcast community links, social media handles and comedy clips, and Stu’s official YouTube channel, all at linktr.ee/stuartgoldsmith

Or join the mailing list for unspecified freebies at:

www.comedianscomedian.com

www.stuartgoldsmith.com

Stu offers remote and in-person talks to business, distilling insights from over 400 comics on cultivating resilience and the ability to bounce back, to all levels from C-suite to team members.

“There’s perfect and there’s perfect; and that was perfect.” David Cooper, Chief People Officer Circle Health Group

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Audiences, Edinburgh, Festival, Fringe, Interview, Live At The Apollo, Mock The Week, Stage Persona, Structure, Success, TV, Writing Jokes

Fresh from the ComCompendium annals we rediscover the indomitable Gina Yashere. An engineer in a previous life, and a comic tour de force in this one, Gina's boldness and clarity of mind saw her draft up a plan: simply selling up her life in the UK and moseying over to the ol' USA.

We examine Gina's annoyance at being the 'diversity' on panel shows, point the finger firmly in the direction of The Patriarchy, and discuss the myriad of pitfalls involved with plunging oneself headlong into starting afresh elsewhere.

Everything Stu's up to:

Podcast community links, social media handles and comedy clips, and Stu’s official YouTube channel are all at linktr.ee/stuartgoldsmith

Or visit:

www.comedianscomedian.com

www.stuartgoldsmith.com

Stu offers remote and in-person talks to business, distilling insights from over 400 comics on cultivating resilience and the ability to bounce back, to all levels from C-suite to team members.

“There’s perfect and there’s perfect; and that was perfect.” David Cooper, Chief People Officer Circle Health Group

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Acting, Andi Osho, Audiences, Chortle, Chris Rock, comcompod, Comedy Store, Diversity, Edinburgh, Fame, Festival, Gina Yashere, Ian Stone, Inspiration, Interview, Jimmy Carr, Jobs, Jongleurs, Last Comic Standing, Live At The Apollo, London, Louis CK, MOBOs, Mock The Week, Open Spot, Persona, Plagiarism, Reviews, Risk, Ros Jeep, Stage Persona, Success, TV, Urban Circuit, USA, Writing Jokes

Sarah Keyworth is a seriously funny comedian, and has a succinct and uncomplicated way of showing it. In this very thoughtful interview, they talk about the point where being saddened by other peoples’ reality meets the irresistible pull of activism. We also explore their creative partnership with the late, great Paul Byrne; and why they’d love to have a pint with JK Rowling…

20 mins of extras available exclusively to the Insiders Club include what happened when Sarah’s therapist found out they were doing material about them, and we also learn why they’re a little old man at heart…

And submit your unmissable moments of ComComPod at www.comedianscomedian.com/unmissable

Catch Up With Sarah:

On their national tour in Nov, Feb and March, which culminates in a huge show at The Bloomsbury Theatre on 19th March - tickets available now via www.sarahkeyworth.co.uk/gigs

IG: @sarah_keyworth

TW: @sarahkcomedy

Everything Stu's up to:

Podcast community links, social media handles and comedy clips, and Stu’s official YouTube channel are all at linktr.ee/stuartgoldsmith

Or visit:

www.comedianscomedian.com

www.stuartgoldsmith.com

Stu offers remote and in-person talks to business, distilling insights from over 400 comics on cultivating resilience and the ability to bounce back, to all levels from C-suite to team members.

“There’s perfect and there’s perfect; and that was perfect.” David Cooper, Chief People Officer Circle Health Group

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: 8 Out Of 10 Cats, ADHD, Audiences, Awards, BBC4, Catherine Bohard, Edinburgh, Fringe, Interview, LGBTQ+, Live At The Apollo, Mental Health, Mock The Week, Radio 4, Sarah Keyworth, Shelf, Stage Persona, Success, Twitter, Writing Jokes

Comedy machine-gun Glenn Moore smashed Edinburgh again this year with a show in which every word and breath serviced his phenomenal joke-rate. Thrill, as you discover how he’s driven to this prodigious comedy output by an almost pathological fear of being told off by an audience for not trying hard enough!

We revisit his earliest shows, speculate as to what drives him to apply a much sterner standard to himself than anyone else, and find out what it means to him that “Mock The Week” has concluded…

20mins of extras available exclusively to the Insiders Club include how many notes Glenn has on his app in the run up to Edinburgh (clue, it’s more than a thousand!), we talk paradigm-shifts in comedy, and he shares with us some of his recent bad ideas. Also Stu is forced into quite an embarrassing admission - unless he’s chickened out and cut that bit by the time this is released…

Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for ad-free episodes, extra content from every show that has it, and much more - including the exclusive Insiders Q&As with Nish Kumar, Alfie Brown, James Acaster and Fern Brady, plus the incredible “self-help for comedians” special with Amanda Donnet.

Catch up with Glenn on tour now!

Glenn is on tour right now and into the start of 2023, find out more at www.glennmoorecomedy.com/live

TW: @TheNewsAtGlenn

IG: @glennrogermoore

Everything Stu's up to

Podcast community links

Social media handles and comedy clips

And Stu’s official YouTube channel…

Are all at linktr.ee/stuartgoldsmith

Or visit:

www.comedianscomedian.com

www.stuartgoldsmith.com

Stu offers remote and in-person talks to business, distilling insights from over 400 comics on cultivating resilience and the ability to bounce back, to all levels from C-suite to team members.

“There’s perfect and there’s perfect; and that was perfect.” David Cooper, Chief People Officer Circle Health Group

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Absolute Radio, Audiences, Chortle, Edinburgh, Festival, Fringe, Interview, Mock The Week, Stage Persona, Success, TV, Writing Jokes

Sharp as a tack and with a scientific bent that underpins her charming demeanour, Ria Lina is experiencing a TV-takeover career breakthrough.  We talk about the different preparation required for Mock The Week, Have I Got News For You and QI; why the fact that a comedy career has no end point is so addictive; and how the recent increase in diversity on the circuit gave her an insight into embracing a more distinct character.

With degrees in virology, pathology and forensics, we also learn more than you might expect about bodies washing up on shores, and ask Ria to turn her scientific mind to analysis of how to save the circuit…

25 mins of extra content available exclusively to the Insiders Club include some excellent advice to newer comics, and an investigation of which social media platforms suit which characters - and some brief thoughts on the implied consent of audience interaction videos going viral…

Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for ad-free episodes, extra content from every show that has it, and much more - including the exclusive Insiders Q&As with Nish Kumar, Alfie Brown, James Acaster and Fern Brady, plus the incredible “self-help for comedians” special with Amanda Donnet.

Catch up with Ria Lina:
www.rialina.com
TW/IG: @rialina_
www.tiktok.com/@rialinaofficial
www.facebook.com/rialina

Everything Stu's up to:
This podcast is @ComComPod on Twitter
www.comedianscomedian.com
IG and Tik: @stuartgoldsmithcomedy

Find out everything Stu’s up to at www.stuartgoldsmith.com

Stu offers remote and in-person talks to business, distilling insights from over 400 comics on cultivating resilience and the ability to bounce back, to all levels from C-suite to team members.

“There’s perfect and there’s perfect; and that was perfect.” David Cooper, Chief People Officer Circle Health Group

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Age, Audiences, Autism, Edinburgh, Fringe, Have I Got News For You, HIGNFY, Interview, Live At The Apollo, Mental Health, Mock The Week, Ria Lina, Sindhu Vee, Stage Persona, Success, Writing Jokes

A consummate compere, wielding her natural warmth and blunt honesty to devastating effect, Thanyia Moore has pulled off something extraordinary - a slot on Mock the Week before she debuts her first hour. We discuss her lack of love for writing, and the inverse pressure of a post-TV debut, as well as her secret game-plan for comedy and beyond. We also talk about whether the change in UK comedy industry booking policy as a response to Black Lives Matter is meaningful or temporary; spotting accidentally radicalised language in reviews; and how to tell when you’ve just done some good acting…

Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for ad-free episodes, extra content from every show that has it, and much more - including the exclusive Insiders Q&As with Nish Kumar, Alfie Brown, James Acaster and Fern Brady, plus the incredible “self-help for comedians” special with Amanda Donnet.

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Acaster, Acting, Age, Athena Kugblenu, Audiences, comcompod, COVID-19, Dane Baptiste, Edinburgh, Interview, Katherine Ryan, Live At The Apollo, Mock The Week, Stage Persona, Success, Whoopi Goldberg, Writing Jokes, Writing On Stage

Crime fiction powerhouse and former circuit comedian, CK McDonnell is on the cusp of levelling further up, with a TV adaptation of his half a million selling “Dublin Trilogy” in the works.

We talk about how to write fast, being calibrated for tough criticism, solving problems in the shower, and how to let characters evolve - especially Bunny McGarry who went from villain to his best loved creation.

25 mins of extra content from this interview is available exclusively to the Insiders Club! We discover Caimh’s secrets of self-publication, learn about how he cultivates the fanbase that now flock around him, and learn why he won’t record his own audiobooks!

Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for this and much more, including the exclusive Insiders Q&As with Nish Kumar, James Acaster and Fern Brady and the incredible “self-help for comedians” special with Amanda Donnet.

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Audiences, Chris Addison, comcompod, COVID-19, Dan Evans, Dublin Trilogy, Edinburgh, Gary Delaney, Interview, Mock The Week, Sarah Millican, Success

Head writer for “The Mash Report”, show-runner for “Hello America” on Quibi, and profoundly nice man, Tom Neenan has a practised ease with pulling jokes out of thin air.  He’s also a comcompletist and one of the nicest people in the industry.

We talk about his entry into the business as a recipient of the BBC writer’s bursary, how a position as staff-writer taught him to be super-productive, and how to mine ambiguity for a punchline.

30 minutes of extra content available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club includes Tom on learning to make shows more personal; Stu and Tom get self-indulgent riffing on story and the Lubitsch touch with reference to Pixar and the MCU, and Tom shares some of his favourite joke-formats…

Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for this and much more, including the exclusive Insiders Q&A with James Acaster.

Tom Neenan
Follow @tneenan for his very funny tweets and drawing

Follow Tom’s Dr Who podcast @Wheezingpod

We also mentioned some of his favourite instructional YouTubers; these include HBomberguy, Jenny Nicholson, Every Frame a Painting, Lessons From The Screenplay, Folded Ideas, and Lindsey Ellis.

And here’s a link to the video about The Lubitsch touch Tom mentions in the extras:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxqt7UmN_bQ

Everything Stu's up to:
Stu’s “Virtual Office Party” is now available as the perfect solution to remote-working office parties, sales conferences, motivational and wellbeing events.

“It was an absolutely hysterical and wonderful evening, for both those partaking and everyone watching online!”

- Maria Kuzak (Fundraising Manager at CALM)

The games and interactive element were hilarious and extremely well executed! 10/10 from us, you created a real buzz in our business, thank you." 

- Ben Gott, Practice Lead, Marketing Solutions EMEA, SVP at Merkle

For more info on how this unique concept can bring your staff together while working apart, go to www.virtualofficeparty.co.uk

Stu also offers remote talks to business on what the distilled wisdom of over 350 comics can teach you about resilience, especially in times of pandemic.

“The most inspiring talk I’ve had in years!” (LEGO staff member)

Find out more at www.comedyinsights.com


This podcast is @ComComPod on twitter and instagram

www.comedianscomedian.com

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Al Murray, Audiences, BBC, BBC4, Edinburgh, Festival, Fringe, Graham Norton, Hello America, Interview, James Acaster, Milton Jones, Mitch Hedburg, Mock The Week, Nish Kumar, Stage Persona, Success, The Mash Report, TV, TV Comedy, Twitter, Victoria Wood, YouTube